Fishing With Face

Quote: DRich

I agree with Petro, get a trolling motor. Great for trolling, and will get you home if needed when engine goes out.

$300-500 new. Probably half that if he finds a used one.

Though handy for one, it's not for emergencies. I had a bigger troller for my 16', a 50# MinnKota. It needed 4/5 power to troll at proper speed in favorable conditions, which lasted about 3hr on a fresh deep cell. That 16' had a 50hp outboard. Now I have an 18' with an i/o V6. A troller be good for maneuvering in the shallows, but I'm not doing any trolling runs with it, 'specially not on Erie with the way it gets. I need something that's gonna run that boat w/2-4 dudes and gear, boards and balls out, in rough-ish conditions, for 6hrs. It has to be a kicker. And 4stroke, so I don't need extra tanks. These leisure boats don't have much room for accessories.


I'm not terribly concerned with the job; I've drilled hulls before for fish finders and whatnot, and these holes, while wet, will be above the water line. My subsurface holes have never dripped a drop over the course of 3-5yrs, so these holes should be fine. It's not knowing what to do about fiberglass when you're attaching something that's just gonna yank and rattle the balls off it that's got me. Seems like you just make a backing plate for it to spread the stress across the plate and off the bolt holes so it don't crumble/shatter and rip through, but I thought I'd ask before I go assuming I know what I'm doing.

https://www.google.com/search?q=kicker+motor+bracket+swim+platform&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS839US839&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=8dsXKhiXAGL_BM%253A%252CI-WnHKzksj2bIM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQe9Bw0lnILFVWpTCshXbOj6i8J0w&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjj6vrtxKbjAhVxds0KHRWrAXIQ9QEwCnoECAMQGA#imgrc=8dsXKhiXAGL_BM:

The kind with the lift assist are nice.

How you going to steer it?

With four of your friends, all you need is paddles. ; ]

That's a big boat. My swim platform is just a single wide, the lower unit would prevent a full length like pictured.

Suppose I could just install another one on other side. What could go wrong?

Edit: oh, and I don't have anything else figured out yet. I figured regular ol tiller control until I really looked at my stern. There doesn't seem to be a way to mount it atop the transom like my last, so controls is a new problem lol. I don't think even an extra long shaft would reach if it was that high, so... dunno yet.

Doesn't that link scroll and show dozens of kicker brackets? Single, double, fixed, assisted lift etc. ?

The ones with the assist lift, basically come strait up with assist. That also keeps it close to the transom for hauling down the road.

That transom is probably only 3/8 glass or 1/2 at the most? The way it's engineered, the pencil guys didn't figure any thrust into the equation with the I/O mounted inside on stringers? So they had no reason to engineer toughness into the transom, I don't believe?

Sounds like you are aware of dispersing all that energy over a wider area than just the four bolts. It's not like our boats only get used in the lab, they get took out and hit docks, trailers, bottom of the lake, houses etc. Build it tough is my op.

It shows a bunch, but all the ones mounted look to be mounted on "something", not mounted to the hull itself. I'm thinking it be easiest to just mount another single swim deck and put the motor on that. I dunno. Lots to figure out re: controls, too.

You ever mess with fiberglass? I need to do some "welding". The mounting holes for my throttle were done terrible and are stripping, and I'm wondering if the looseness is adding to if not causing my throttle issues.

They're small holes, like a 3/16. Can I just fill with epoxy and redrill? Or must I patch it with glass?

Quote: Face

It shows a bunch, but all the ones mounted look to be mounted on "something", not mounted to the hull itself. I'm thinking it be easiest to just mount another single swim deck and put the motor on that. I dunno. Lots to figure out re: controls, too.

You ever mess with fiberglass? I need to do some "welding". The mounting holes for my throttle were done terrible and are stripping, and I'm wondering if the looseness is adding to if not causing my throttle issues.

They're small holes, like a 3/16. Can I just fill with epoxy and redrill? Or must I patch it with glass?

No, never glassed. But I've repaired holes strait through the hull with Marine Tex and had zero issues. There are marvelous products that require no mixing right out of the can, that claim they can be drilled and tapped. I've no reason to doubt the claims having witnessed the strength when cured. I've used Marine Tex for many applications. A friend even patched a cracked engine block with it? [water jacket] It was still working last I heard.

I've used 5200 for plenty of things. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Marine-Adhesive-Sealant-5200/?N=5002385+3293241623&rt=rud Fantastic product.

I had a friend gill netting alone that popped a hole in the front part of his hull at water line, he had to keep forward motion or would start taking on lots of water. He tied himself to the forward rail, left the boat in gear and running fast enough to keep the bow out of the water, and jumped overboard holding his Dewalt screw gun, a piece of plywood that was already smeared with 5200 on one side and a bunch of screws started into the plywood on the other, and a few more in his mouth. He applied the patch while in the water and underway, by himself. It worked so well he left the plywood screwed and glued to the chine area of his boat for 3 seasons because he was so glad to have lived through it, and was so proud of the patching while underway, he wanted folks to ask why he had a piece of plywood screwed to the front of his boat. : )

He has some great Cordova fishing stories.

Quote: Face

It shows a bunch, but all the ones mounted look to be mounted on "something", not mounted to the hull itself. I'm thinking it be easiest to just mount another single swim deck and put the motor on that.

If I'm visualizing this properly? If it were me, I'd probably locate some 3/8 aluminum plate, cut to size, and smear 5200 copiously on it, and bolt clear through both plates, [one plate inside for backing and one plate outside to mount to.] You could even have someone weld up a mounting bracket to the outside plate before bolting it, throughhull. And of course copious amounts of 5200 around the bolt shanks and some washers, and spring washers on the stainless 1/2" bolts.

Make it hurky enough to tow the boat with, and attractive enough that your girlfriend will still climb aboard. Figure out if you are using one of those easy lift motor brackets or just planning on tipping it up when hauling or underway. The bracket may need to extend further away from the boat so you can tip the motor up without the motor cover smashing into the stern. Be generous with the plating, imo. You are also going to have height issues with this kicker between when it's just you and the kid or when it's you and 4 fat friends and beer. The weight difference may put the motor underwater if you can't adjust for weight. Kickers aren't really an efficient use set up,,,,but still you want the prop in the water and the pisser pissing and the breather breathing.

And, like we said, you will need to steer it and run the controls. Might consider using cable steering with throttle and gear shift ran to the helm? It's not fun sitting on the stern everytime you want to troll. Likely as not, it's going to be you doing the driving, make it easy on yourself as you can. Wearing your back out switching back and forth between the helm and the steering location of the kicker, over the top of "the crew" gets old , if you do it often. You can't think of it as if you were actually going to have, "help".

On a small boat, weight placement matters also. Don't put all the weight on the drivers side, just sayin. It's nice to trim her so she rides flat, not heeled over to one side all the time.

Reminds me of my fly bridge only saltwater boat. I'd be atop the boat in the rough seas and howling rain while everyone else was down in the cabin sitting around the heat laughing and telling story's. : )

How would you mount a trolling motor on this kind of hull? Note that the transom is not much wider than the motor.

Can you use an electric mounted on the bow, or are you saying a kicker motor like Face is talking about? Using remote controls?